Abby Carnelia's One and Only Magical Power Read Online Free PDF

common—
    But Ben’s brain had other plans. “Sure,” he said, shrugging.
    The counselor wagged a finger toward the Carnelias. “You guys are all set?”
    Mr. Carnelia nodded. “Witches 3, up the hill past the dining hall. We’ll find it. Thanks.”
    â€œOkeydoke. Come on, Ben, I’ll take you to meet Tony, and then I’ll show you where lunch is set up.”
    Ben perked up. “Lunch?” he said. “There’s lunch?”
    Ben and the counselor walked away.
    Mr. and Mrs. Carnelia set about rounding up Ryan and getting Abby signed in. If they saw any of the excitement and confusion on Abby’s face, they didn’t say so.

CHAPTER
6
Camp
    â€œL EMME HEAR YOU SAY
YEAH
, Witchezzz!” said Claudia.
    She was the red-shirted, college-age, slightly pudgy, completely pumped-up counselor in front of Abby’s cabin. Every time she shouted, her side-mounted ponytail flounced like a pom-pom.
    â€œYeah!”
shouted Abby and the other girls.
    â€œLemme hear you say
Rock,
Witchezzzz!” said the counselor, louder now.
    â€œRock!”
shouted the girls, louder still.
    â€œAll right, now, gimme the W!” She thrust her hand into the middle of the circle of girls, with her three middle fingers sticking up like a letter “W,” and they all knocked fists in midair. It was a corny way to build cabintogetherness and spirit, Abby knew, but she had to admit that it was working. She was already feeling some sisterly affection for the five other girl magicians in her cabin.
    â€œAll
riiiiiight!”
shouted Claudia, pumping her fist in the air by itself now. “Listen up, Witches. I’m gonna be straight with you: there are at least three times as many boys as girls at this camp. But this is day one, Witches. And by day fourteen, you know what we’re going to show the world? That girls make just as good magicians as boys. Or
better
, right?”
    â€œRight!”
shouted the girls, definitely pumped up now.
    â€œAll right, so listen up, ladies. You are in Witches 3. It’s the coolest, classiest cabin in Camp Cadabra. Oh, sure, it may look just like the other girls’ cabins. It may be on the same
hill
as the other girls’ cabins. It may have the same
view
as the other girls’ cabins. But it’s not the same. This one is
special.
You know why, Witches?”
    The girls shook their heads, grinning.
    â€œBecause only Witches 3 has Claudia. That’s me. And only Witches 3 has the six of you. And as you shall see,
that
is what makes this cabin the coolest and the classiest. Now let’s get inside so I can show you around.”
    Fired up with excitement, the girls pushed their way into the cabin.
    Now, a word about the Camp Cadabra cabins. When youread the word
cabin
, you’re probably thinking of, say, a
log
cabin, or a
camp
cabin, or a cabin in the woods. Something simple, and bare bones, and woodsy.
    But the cabins at Camp Cadabra were quite another story.
    This camp, Abby soon discovered, was
not
all about “roughing it.” Abby had never seen any other sleep-away summer camps, but she could tell right away that on the comfort scale, this one was Extra Cushy.
    It was brand new, for one thing. Absolutely spotless. It even had that fresh-cut lumber smell that seemed to say, “You’re the first people who ever slept here.”
    The cabin was air-conditioned, too. The cots weren’t cots—they were like hotel beds, deep and comfortable. When you lay down, you felt like you were sinking down halfway to China.
    Each cabin had both indoor and outdoor showers, complete with marble tile floors, and a fridge for late-night snacks. There was even a laptop on a desk in the corner, always connected to the Internet—“so you can write to your folks and tell them what a blast you’re having,” as Claudia put it.
    It’s a good thing Dad didn’t stay long enough to really see this